Delta Variant Casts Shadow Over East Asia and Pacific Economies in Long Term: World Bank

An employee works on steel bars at a factory in Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang Province on May 15, 2020. STR/AFP

The World Bank said on Monday that the COVID-19 Delta variant is holding back the recovery in East Asia and Pacific (EAP) countries, which would give rise to economic recession and inequality in the long term.

Testing, tracking, and isolation among the public have been less effective against the more infectious Delta variant, partly driving up lockdowns and restrictions to curb the growing outbreak, the World Bank said in its East Asia and Pacific Fall 2021 Economic Update published on Sept. 27.